Two youths allegedly involved in an attempted hold up at Paceville three years ago, were cleared of all criminal liability as a result of a marked lack of evidence to prove the charges. 

Tyson Grech, 26, from Senglea and Shamison Stafrace, 24, from Cospicua allegedly held up two foreign nationals at gunpoint on St George’s Road at around 5.15am, demanding money and threatening to make off with the couple’s motorbike. 

The incident, which allegedly took place opposite Havana club on April 14, 2019, had triggered quite a commotion and resulted in the arrest of one of the suspects who immediately took to his heels when police turned up to investigate reports of a street fight.

As he fled the scene, police in tow, he flung a black object onto rocks nearby before ultimately being arrested and handcuffed. 

The suspect, Grech, denied possessing any weapon, insisting that he only had an air gun known as a BB gun. A search yielded seven metal bullets compatible with such a weapon. 

The second suspect, Stafrace, was arrested when he turned up at the police station just as the two alleged victims were filing a report about the incident. 

They immediately identified the youth as one of a trio who had stopped them on the Paceville street, ordering them to hand over their money, pointing a gun straight in the victims’ faces.

But Stafrace denied those allegations, insisting that he had come across a street fight and had simply grabbed a crash helmet, hitting out randomly in the brawl.

He also admitted to having a drug addiction and to having consumed some cocaine that day.

The morning after the incident, police officers scouring the beach along the path taken during the chase came across a gun magazine.

However, they could not tell whether that magazine belonged to a real gun or a fake firearm.

Both youths were charged with attempted aggravated theft, carrying a weapon when committing a crime against the person, slightly injuring and assaulting their victims, disturbing the peace at night as well as being drunk in public.

Grech was also separately charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and refusal to obey legitimate police orders.

Stafrace was charged with unlawful possession of cocaine, recidivism as well as allegedly breaching a suspended sentence. Both pleaded not guilty.

When delivering judgment the court, presided over by magistrate Simone Grech, struck down each and every one of the charges for lack of sufficient evidence put forward by the prosecution.

The alleged victims, who were the “most essential” witnesses to shed light on what had happened that night, were never summoned to testify.

Nor were any other eyewitnesses, and the CCTV footage from the security cameras at the scene of the incident were not put forward either. 

The only witnesses were police officers who arrived on site after the alleged attempted robbery.

Medical certificates or the doctors themselves who had examined the victims after the incident, were lacking.

Nor did the prosecution put forward evidence with respect to the weapon allegedly used in the attempted holdup.

As for the charge of disturbing the peaceful repose of residents at night, the police did not succeed in proving beyond reasonable doubt that this disturbance had actually occurred.

Besides, the commotion had allegedly occurred in Paceville, “a place which in itself disturbed the peace of residents with noises and shouting from various establishments and the people who go there,” remarked the court.

No forensic evidence, such as fingerprints, could link Grech to the magazine found on the beach.

Nor was a ballistics expert called upon to prove whether the bullets were real or fake.

As for Stafrace’s statement about how he had used cocaine that day, the court noted that the statement had not been signed and hence could not be proved.

A probation officer testified in the proceedings about Stafrace’s “unhappy” upbringing and confirmed that the youth had marked great progress since he joined a rehabilitation programme that proved to be a turning point in his life. 

In light of such lack of evidence, the court pronounced an acquittal. 

Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb were counsel to Stafrace. Lawyer Jason Grima was counsel to Grech.